The
4th Batch Organising Secretaries were recruited in the 1960s. They were tasked
with a variety of responsibilities to work in the field with a collective
mission to establish social cohesion and racial harmony among the people
through the People’s Association and its network of community centres when
Singapore was very young then. They rendered their services with their presence
in locations closer to the people as trained and qualified community and youth
workers. Some of them had to work closely with Clan Associations and Civic
organizations besides Art, Educational, Cultural, Social and Sports
Organisations to create many opportunities for reaching a coordinated and
closely-linked society.
Some
of them who were heavily involved in planning and organizing the earliest
activities would remember those activities that included the inception of the
PA Youth Movement, PA Kindergartens, vocational activities, social and
educational talks at CCs, Chingay Processions, international folkdancing nights,
poly-matches, Tele-matches with the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, SANA
para-counseling training courses, the PA Youth Swimming Club, Planned
Parenthood educational programmes, children’s camps, children’s art
competitions, cultural extravaganza at the National Theatre, funfairs and film-premieres
for fund-raising efforts, Sports-O-Rama, viz-quizzes, dragon-boat races,
kite-flying competitions, Jong competitions at the outlying islets, moon-cake
and lantern-making competitions, top-spinning contests, rice-dumpling-making
contests, singing contests, carom and other traditional games competitions, canoeing
camps, sea and land adventure camps, campfire jamborees, swimming competitions,
the Singapore Pugilistic Arts Competitions at the Gay World Stadium jointly
organized by PA and the Singapore Pugilistic Federation, road shows,
exhibitions and publications, dress-making, cooking and cake-making
competitions, baby shows, retirement planning programmes and seminars, The
international Trade Expo at PA Grounds, inter-CCs youth group debates, youth
leadership training pragrammes, PA biennial and triennial conferences, first-aid
camps, campings at Pulau Ubin, Pulau Tekong and Saints John’s Islands, inter-CCs
sports tournaments, local and overseas youth exchange programmes, overland and
overseas adventure programmes with the youth organizations in neighbouring
countries, seminars, forums, and discussions at NYLTI, National Day Parade
marching contingents, decentralized ND parades, Ship for the Southeast Asian
Youth Programmes started in 1974, the Sakura Maru Cruise, the Coral Princess
Programmes, the Blue Sea Green Land cultural exchange programmes, regional and
commonwealth youth exchange programmes and conferences, the Asian Youth Council
Congress and so on…..........
Some
of them also maintained a collection of records with write-ups on each subject
listed above. We wish them happy fond memories of the history we were all proud
to be a part of it.
Those
who had taken the initiatives and challenge to deliver the intended results
knew best what they could remember. They had witnessed history in their
respective areas of work commitments that they had involved themselves in the
good old days. Their efforts for doing a good job had made a difference equally
for themselves in their work and in their own lives.
